Purchasing groups way ahead

WITH farmers emerging from the most severe winter in more than 50 years, it may be a good time for IFA to push a key part of its strategy to reduce farming costs — establishing more purchasing groups to restore some of the balance of power to farmers.

Purchasing groups reduced the high costs for some livestock farmers of getting through the winter — and more farmers should be helped organise themselves into such groups.

IFA should be able to do at least as much for farmers on the purchasing side as on the selling side. When most of what an Irish farmer sells depends heavily on export markets, there is a limit to how influential an organisation like IFA can be on the selling side.